WWE Talent To Appear On FOX Programming
Vince McMahon: "We've never had a platform like this in terms of promotion."
WWE talent will apparently soon be appearing on general Fox programming once SmackDown makes its move to Fox this October.
Speaking with Variety Magazine, Vince McMahon revealed that the multi-million pound deal with Murdoch's empire - estimated at around $1 billion over five years - will be a "totally integrated approach", meaning the wrestling company's top stars (!) will alight elsewhere on the channel.
"We’ve never had a platform like this in terms of promotion," McMahon admitted "Fox is going to go all-in, and they’re great promoters."
He also mentioned that NBCU - who also agreed a similarly mammoth deal to retain de facto flagship Raw - will "step up" to the "equivalent" of Fox's efforts.
Realistically, as the majority of Fox's TV output (and indeed, the Fox studio itself) are owned by Disney, WWE's opportunities for cross-promotion will be restricted to the Fox Corps operated Fox Sports and Fox News.
Potentially, then, we could see something like Alicia Fox & Friends, or perhaps another appearance by Bret Hart "on Simpsons". It's certainly a novel idea, using the popularity of other shows to make stars out of their own, um, 'stars'.